


Dandelion Alchemy

by deewrites



Series: The Dandelion AU [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-07-13
Packaged: 2018-03-10 15:46:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3295943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deewrites/pseuds/deewrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's time for Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts.  What adventures await him and his brother at the school?  (Sequel to Dandelion Wishes)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to [Dandelion Wishes](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3102251), which has a lot of the setup and backstory of how Harry's current situation came to be.

It was the summer Holidays and instead of enjoying it, Neville Longbottom was spending much of his time being an absolute wreck. The problem was, in the fall, he’d be going to Secondary School, and he still didn’t know what school he’d be going to. Oh, he was registered to attend the closest one, so it wasn’t a question of his Gran having forgotten to put in any paperwork, but that school was supposed to be for appearance’s sake; a back-up, in case he didn’t get into the school his parents had gone to - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

It would be better, Neville thought, if everyone weren’t being so nice to him about it, assuring him he’d get into Hogwarts. Maybe his (adopted) brother believed it, but Neville knew all the adults in his family were just being nice. He’d heard his Gran talking one night, to his Great-Uncle Algie and his Great-Aunt Enid. He knew they didn’t think he had enough magic to go to Hogwarts.

“He’s shown he has magical ability,” Augusta had said.

“Once,” Algie replied. “With the bouncing.”

Augusta had said something annoyed after that, which Neville couldn’t quite make out. And then something about a dandelion. Neville remembered the feeling of the dandelion in his hands going from full bloom to full seed simply because he’d willed it to.

“Only the lads saw that happen, Gus,” Algie said. “I had to be sure they weren’t making up stories.”

“Algernon!” Augusta said.

“I know, and I’ve apologised. But in any case, he’s not shown any magic since, has he?”

Neville had stopped listening at that point. Uncle Algie was right; after he’d made the dandelion bloom, the only other time he’d done any magic was later that summer, when Uncle Algie had been hanging him out a window in an attempt to force some magic out of Neville, because he didn’t believe the dandelion hadn’t simply been found already gone to seed.

Maybe he’d be less nervous about where he’d be going to school if not getting into Hogwarts didn’t mean being separated from his brother. His brother, who was currently sleeping in the bed on the other side of the room. His brother, who’d been taken in by Neville’s Gran at around the same time as Neville had. His brother, who was famous in the British Wizarding World because when he was a toddler, he’d defeated a powerful Dark Wizard.

His brother, who had done loads of magic, and was definitely going to go to Hogwarts.

“Nev? You awake?”

His brother, who apparently wasn’t asleep after all.

“Yeah,” Neville said.

“Why?”

“Can’t sleep.”

“Me neither.”

“Bad dream?” Neville asked. Harry had weird nightmares semi-regularly.

“Mm,” Harry said. “Are you sitting up worrying about not getting into Hogwarts?”

Neville didn’t respond.

“You’ll get your letter,” Harry said.

“But what if I don’t?”

“You’ve done magic, you live in Great Britain, you get a Hogwarts letter. That’s how it works,” Harry said.

“I’ve done magic twice. I don’t think that’s enough.”

“What about the time two of the little girls were fighting because one of them thought the other one stole her doll and you found it so they’d stop fighting?”

“What’s magic about that?” Neville asked.

“I saw where the one who’d stolen it had hid it,” Harry said. “It wasn’t where you found it.”

“You’re just trying to make me feel better,” Neville said.

Harry didn’t respond. He’d apparently fallen asleep again.

*****

Harry was right, it turned out, because one morning, not too long after that conversation, the boys went into the kitchen for breakfast and saw not one but two heavy parchment envelopes sitting on the kitchen table.

Augusta turned around to tip some pancakes off the frying pan and onto their plates and positively beamed at them. Neville wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her look so proud.

“Congratulations, boys,” she said. “Your Hogwarts letters arrived.”

Neville almost didn’t believe it, but there on the front of the envelope, in emerald green ink, was the address,

> Neville Longbottom  
>  The second bedroom  
>  73 Larch Hill Crescent  
>  Bradford

He looked up to see that Harry had already opened his letter and was reading it avidly.

“Aw,” he said, “First years aren’t allowed their own broomsticks.”

“And for good reason!” Augusta said. “Quidditch is a dangerous sport!”

Neville read his letter. So it was real! He had a place at Hogwarts! He _did_ have enough magic!

“I’ve already sent the response back, of course,” Augusta said. “We’ll need to get you your supplies. Probably sooner rather than later, Diagon Alley will be less busy.”

“You’re going to take us to Diagon Alley?” Harry asked, finally looking up from his letter.

“Well, how else are you to be properly fitted for robes?” Augusta replied. “And you, Harry, are going to need a wand.”

“What about Neville?” Harry asked. “He’s going to Hogwarts too, he’ll need a wand.”

“He can use his father’s wand,” Augusta said. “It’s a good wand that belonged to a good wizard.”

Harry looked like he wanted to argue, but Neville shot him a look, pleading with him to be quiet and not pick a fight with Gran over this. Neville didn’t care about not getting a new wand, he just hoped he could live up to his father’s legacy.

Of course, before they could finalise any plans to go to Diagon Alley, Augusta had to tell Uncle Algie and Aunt Enid the good news that both Neville and Harry would be going to Hogwarts. This, of course, led to Uncle Algie insisting he come along to Diagon Alley and also that he would buy each boy a pet as a combined birthday gift and congratulations on getting into Hogwarts gift.

Calendars were compared, and plans were made, and a little under a week later, on Neville’s 11th birthday, he found himself headed to Diagon Alley for the first time in his life.

In a word, it was overwhelming. If a Tuesday morning was supposed to be the quiet time of the week, Neville wasn’t sure he wanted to go to Diagon Alley when it was busy. Many of the stores had colourful displays of their wares (and a lot of those displays re-arranged themselves seemingly at-will). There was an ice cream shop that smelled of delicious baked goods only about 30 feet away from the apothecary, which smelled of rotten cabbage and week-old eggs, displaying barrels of glittery black beetle eyes… and was that dragon liver?

And the noise. Most of the shops’ doors were open and you could hear people loudly haggling over prices as you passed them. And that wasn’t to mention the vendors, shouting out their sales from their small booths, trying to entice people to come over and buy sneakoscopes or love potions, or the people walking down the wide cobbled street, talking amongst themselves in voices suggested they didn’t actually want their conversations to be private. The only exception was when the occasional person looked away from their companion and saw Harry. Those people then suddenly started whispering amongst themselves, trying and failing to subtly point him out.

Harry, for his part, seemed to be dutifully doing his best to ignore those people, and was looking excitedly from store-front to store-front, trying to take in all the sights and sounds and smells except for the ones directed at him.

At the end of the road was a tall marble building, twice as tall as all the rest.

Outside that building was a giant of a man, almost twice as tall as all the rest, with a long curly brown beard and hair to match, wearing a coat that looked like it might be made of nothing but pockets.

He saw them approach, and his dark eyes glistened. “Harry Potter!” he boomed out, and the noise level in the rest of the street dropped by several decibels. “You’ve grown well since the las’ time I saw you. Well, then you was only a baby.”

He took Harry’s hand in his own much larger one, and gave it an enthusiastic shake. “I suppose you’re here to get yer things for Hogwarts, then?” he asked.

Harry nodded, looking a bit shocked. “Er, yes,” he said. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”

“Right, I oughta indroduce meself,” the giant said. “Rubeus Hagrid, keeper of the keys and grounds at Hogwarts. I was the one as got you out of yer parents’ house and brought you to Professor Dumbledore when you was just a baby. Flew you all the way to… er…” Hagrid trailed off as he became gradually aware of Augusta’s scrutinizing gaze. “Well, you were raised up with the Longbottoms, weren’t you?”

Harry nodded. “This is my Gran, uh.. Augusta. And Great Uncle Algie. And this is Neville.”

“It’s good to meet you,” Hagrid said, shaking all their hands in turn. “Well, I have some business to take care of for Professor Dumbledore, so I shouldn’t be keeping you.”

He then hurried off into Gringotts, leaving a slightly bemused family of Longbottoms to follow after him before they could be accosted by anyone else. They ended up talking to the goblin next to the one helping Hagrid, and as much as Neville tried, he couldn’t help but overhear what Hagrid was up to at Gringotts.

“I’m here about the you-know-what in vault 713,” he said, handing the goblin a letter on the same parchment as the Hogwarts letters had been written on.

Meanwhile, Augusta was handing over Harry’s key and her own to a Gringotts goblin, who soon summoned another to take them down to their vaults.

Once, when they had been in Blackpool for a vacation, Neville and Harry had gone behind Augusta’s back and convinced Great Uncle Algie to let them go to Blackpool Pleasure Beach and ride the roller coasters. The cart on rails they were climbing into now seemed less safe, with its lack of seat-belts or harnesses of any kind. As they hurtled down, deep undergound, past a lake and a passage that glowed red with what might be dragonfire, and caverns full of stalagmites and stalactites, Neville was glad he’d been on a roller coaster before, or he might have been terrified. As it was, by the time they got to their family’s vault and then to Harry’s, he was merely queasy.

Augusta took Harry to the side before the goblin opened Harry’s vault, and had a quiet talk with him. Neville looked away, not wanting to see how much money Harry had to himself. After all, Gran had given him a small bag of coins that were his to spend on what he wanted, why not the same for Harry?

Neville was surprised how quickly his eyes had gotten used to the dark of the Gringotts tunnels, but stepping back out into the street of Diagon Alley was a shock, and he had to blink several times before he could convince himself he wouldn’t go blind from all the light.

After Gringotts, they got their Robes from Madam Malkin’s and their books from Flourish and Blotts without much incident (Augusta even let Harry buy himself a copy of Quidditch through the Ages). She went to the apothecary to pick up their basic potion supplies as well as a few for her own stores, while Algie took them to get their pets.

Harry, almost instantly, saw a snowy white owl and decided she was going to be his pet. Neville took a bit more time, looking in all the cages. Finally, he stopped in front of a toad, who looked right back at him.

“Toads have fallen out of fashion,” the shop assistant said. “You’d do better with a cat or an owl.”

The toad was still staring back at Neville. “No,” Neville said, “I’ll take this one.”

“Toads aren’t that useful,” the shop assistant said. “Not like an owl. You’ll be teased.”

“That’s fine,” Neville said, “I’m used to it. I want this toad as my pet.”

“If you’re sure,” the shop assistant said, “but I warn you, he’s the grumpiest toad I’ve ever seen.”

“I’m sure,” Neville said.

Finally, the only stop left was Ollivander’s, to get Harry a wand.

“Why don’t you go get some ice cream with Uncle Algie?” Augusta said to Neville.

“Oh, come on, Gus, it wouldn’t hurt for him to at least see what it looks like inside Ollivander’s,” Uncle Algie said.

“Please, Gran?” Neville asked.

Augusta sighed. “Oh, I suppose. But remember, your father’s wand will serve you just fine.”

Neville nodded. She’d given him the wand that morning before they left, and he had it in his jeans pocket. It made him feel like a real wizard to have a real wand.

Ollivander’s was dimly lit and sparsely furnished, with a single chair in the front of the store, and a simple counter, behind which Neville could see rows upon rows of small rectangular boxes. A bell chimed as they entered and soon enough an old man appeared from somewhere in the shelves of boxes.

“Ah, I thought I’d see you here soon, Harry Potter,” he said. “You look like your father, but you have your mother’s eyes. And you must be young Master Longbottom. You have your mother’s face, but your father’s bearing.”

“We’re just here for a wand for Harry,” Augusta said firmly.

“Oh?” Ollivander said.

“Uh, I have my dad’s wand to use,” Neville said quietly.

“Frank’s wand?” Ollivander said. “Eleven and a half inches, pear, unicorn hair, slightly springy. The wand chooses the wizard, Mister Longbottom, are you sure your father’s wand is a good fit?”

“I-” Neville said.

“He should be proud to use his father’s wand,” Augusta said. “It’s a good wand.”

“Of course it’s a good wand,” Ollivander said, “I made it. But it may suit your grandson no better than it would suit you. If I remember correctly, you favoured a wand of ash and dragon heartstring, did you not?”

“That is correct,” Augusta said stiffly.

“If you have the wand with you,” Ollivander said, turning to Neville, “There is no harm in checking.”

Neville carefully pulled the wand out of his pocket.

“Go on,” Ollivander said, “Give it a wave.”

Neville cautiously waved the wand in a loose zig-zag formation.

“No, no, that will not do,” Ollivander said. “On rare occasions a wand will pass from one user to another with equal affinity, but this wand will only hold you back in your studies.”

“There is nothing wrong with that wand,” Augusta said.

Ollivander fixed Augusta with a stare nearly as stern as the one usually on her face. “Nor is there aught wrong with the boy holding it. Would you hold your grandson’s ability back in the name of legacy?”

They stared at each other for a long time, while Neville looked nervously from one to the other, and noticed Harry doing the same.

Finally, Augusta nodded. “If there’s a wand in your shop that chooses him, then he may have it.”

It did not take many tries before Ollivander handed Neville a wand that clearly showed an affinity for Neville.

“Cherry and Unicorn hair, thirteen inches, surprisingly bendy,” Ollivander said. “Try it.”

No sooner had Neville taken hold of the wand than he felt warm all over. He waved his arm and a ray of silver light followed behind the pattern of the wand’s movement.

“And that,” Ollivander said, “Is why heirloom wands should be passed on with caution.”

Of course, with Neville being an easy customer, trying less than half a dozen wands before finding his, Harry turned out to be a very tricky customer. Wands were piling up on the counter and each time, Ollivander snatched the wand away from Harry almost as soon as Harry would touch it.

Finally, Ollivander disappeared into the stacks of wand boxes for longer than usual, and when he returned, he had a pensive look on his face.

“Holly and Phoenix feather,” he said. “Eleven inches, nice and supple.”

Harry didn’t produce a stream of light like Neville had, his moment of wand affinity produced a shower of red and gold sparks.

“Strange,” Ollivander said. “Strange that this wand should choose you. For the phoenix that gave his tail feather to your wand also gave a feather to the wand that gave you that scar.”

Harry looked a bit unnerved.

“Yes,” Ollivander said, “I think we can expect great things from you, Harry Potter.”

After paying for their wands, they headed out to meet with Uncle Algie, who was sitting at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream parlor, waiting. Sitting on the table, next to his empty bowl that had once held ice cream, was a glass sphere, about three inches across, filled with a grey smoke.

“Algernon,” Augusta said. “That isn’t what I think it is.”

“The vendor gave me a good deal on a Remembrall!” Uncle Algie said. “I thought it could help Neville here out once he gets to Hogwarts.”

Neville picked up the ball curiously. The smoke inside turned red almost immediately.

“Oh dear,” Uncle Algie said. “The vendor said it only turns red when you’ve forgotten something.”

“Great,” Neville said. He couldn’t think of anything he’d forgotten.

“It’s rubbish, is what it is,” Augusta said. “It certainly doesn’t tell you _what_ it is that you’ve forgotten.

“I think Neville’s just forgotten to tell us where we ought to have dinner,” Harry said, plucking the remembrall out of Neville’s hand and putting it with the rest of their shopping. “Since it’s his birthday and all, he gets to decide that, right?”

“Of course that’s it! After all, it’s not every day you turn eleven,” Uncle Algie said.

They ended up having dinner at the Leaky Cauldron, because Neville was curious what a Wizard Pub was like. To Augusta’s chagrin, Uncle Algie ordered them all Butterbeers, and to everyone’s chagrin, half the patrons came by to interrupt their dinner once they realised Harry Potter was eating there.

All in all, Neville thought as he drifted off to sleep that night, it wasn’t bad as far as birthdays went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure: astute readers might notice that the address of the Longbottom house is no longer "on Halifax Road". This is because I realised that the houses along Halifax Road are actually really big, whereas the house the Longbottoms live in is two or three bedrooms. So I adjusted. I'll probably go back and edit it, at which point i'll remove this note.
> 
> This story will somewhat be alternating mostly between Neville's and Harry's perspective, but I'll probably still throw in a few scenes that are from Minerva's and/or Augusta's perspective.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys get on the Hogwarts Express and meet some new people, who they may or may not approve of.

Harry was too busy being excited about September to pay much attention to his birthday. Sure, it was celebrated, but all he could really think about was how in a month, he’d be going to Hogwarts.

Augusta encouraged them to spend a good deal of time looking through their schoolbooks, “so you have some grasp on the fundamentals of magic.” Harry found the books interesting at first, but there was only so much reading _about_ magic while being unable to _do_ magic that he could stand, and about a week into August, he slipped his copy of Quidditch Through the Ages into his book so that Augusta would think he was studying but he could read about Quidditch instead.

Of course, this lead to Quidditch Through The Ages being confiscated.

Meanwhile, Neville seemed determined to memorise all the plants in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, and he enlisted Harry to quiz him. This was at least more interesting than just reading, so Harry complied.

“Why is Dandelion in here?” Harry asked, one afternoon.

“The juice has mild healing properties,” Neville answered.

“No, I mean, it’s not really a magical plant, is it? They’re all over the place. And lots of nonmagical plants have mild healing properties. Is ginger in here too because it helps settle the stomach? Are we going to get to Hogwarts and learn how to brew an anti-nausea potion that’s just Gran’s dandelion and ginger tea?”

“I was wondering that too,” Neville said. “Maybe there are special magical species of those plants? So Gran’s teas aren’t the same as the potions using mostly the same ingredients?”

“You’d think a magical species of dandelion would do something more than have mild healing properties,” Harry said. “I would have thought it would grant wishes or something.”

Neville shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “It doesn’t say more in the book. Go on, ask me another.”

Harry flipped through the book. “Okay,” he said. “What’s wormwood and what does it do?”

“It’s a flowering shrub,” Neville said. “And I want to say it either helps digestion or is poisonous and can cause loss of muscle control?”

Harry scanned the paragraph about Wormwood. “It looks like both are right, depending on what part of the plant is used and how much. It’s the oil that’s poisonous in large amounts, but just using the leaves is helpful in nausea remedies. Do you really think we’ll be expected to have this memorised?”

“I just think it’s interesting,” Neville said. “And it’s easier to read about than transfiguration theory. I bet that’ll be my worst class.”

“You don’t know that,” Harry said. “Maybe it’s harder in theory than in practice.”

But Neville did not look very convinced.

August passed quickly, despite time’s tendency to slow down when there was something to look forward to, and before Harry knew it, it was September first and Augusta was waking him and Neville up at sunrise so they could catch the train down to London. Lists were checked and double-checked, trunks and a sleeping owl - whom Harry had named Hedwig after a name in the History of Magic textbook - were loaded into a taxi (the owl earning them a bit of a curious look from the taxi driver), and soon they were on a train headed from Leeds to Kings Cross.

“Why can’t we just floo to London?” Harry asked.

“There’s not a grate near enough to King’s Cross that wouldn’t also be too noticeable,” Augusta said. “We can’t have all the students and their families popping out of a fireplace at once.”

Harry supposed that made sense, although he suspected their taking the train down might have also had something to do with how Augusta very rarely seemed to do any magic in front of her grandsons.

Neville was holding his toad, looking slightly nervous.

“You should have put Trevor in his tank,” Augusta said.

“He doesn’t like it,” Neville said.

Harry resisted the urge to point out that Trevor, who had been named after Granddad’s owl, didn’t like anything.

“Well, keep a close hold on him,” Augusta said. “I don’t want you to lose your pet before you even get to school.”

Neville did keep a close hold on his toad. Harry didn’t see Neville let go of Trevor once, not even when he was walking quickly toward the divider at King’s Cross station between Platform 9 and Platform 10. However, once Harry was through to the platform as well (despite a sense of certainty that he was going to run straight into a brick wall), he looked at Neville and saw his brother’s hands were empty.

“Neville, where’s Trevor?” Harry asked.

“I don’t know!” Neville said. “I had him, and then I was looking at the train, and then he was gone!”

“Well, he can’t have gotten far,” Harry said. “If you had him when you got on the platform, he’ll still be on the platform.”

The boys started looking around, to see if there was a toad hiding on the luggage of anyone nearby, or perhaps under one of the benches.

“And just what are you two up to?” Augusta asked, joining them on the platform with the rest of Neville’s luggage.

“Gran,” Neville said, “I’ve lost Trevor.”

“Oh, Neville,” Augusta said, sighing. “Well, we’d best find him before the train leaves. Harry, will you make sure all the luggage gets onto the train?”

“Right,” Harry said, and grabbed a hold of the second luggage cart, carefully steering both his and Neville’s luggage toward the train, just as several red haired boys emerged onto the platform.

Harry didn’t take much notice of the family of redheads, instead turning his attention to finding an empty compartment. There was one near the end of the train, and it was only then that he realised that with Neville and Gran busy looking for Trevor, he’d have to unload both the carts by himself, and his trunk was rather heavy and filled with school books and supplies. Harry lifted Hedwig into the compartment, followed by Trevor’s tank, and then started the process of trying to lift a too-heavy trunk. He didn’t succeed in much more than dropping it on his foot twice, and he was considering whether maybe Neville’s trunk was lighter when he was approached.

“Need a hand?”

It was one of the redheaded boys Harry had seen entering the platform.

“Er, yes, thanks,” Harry said.

“Oi, Fred!” the other boy called. “Come over here and help!”

Another boy who must have been the first one’s twin came over, and with their help, Harry managed to get his and Neville’s trunks into the compartment and tucked away.

“You’ve got a lot of luggage,” one of the twins said.

“Oh, half of it’s for my brother, he’s just pre-occupied, leaving me to load up,” Harry said, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “Thanks, by the way.”

“What’s that?” the other twin said, pointing at Harry’s scar, which was now clearly visible.

“Blimey, are you-” said the first twin.

“He is,” said the second, who Harry thought might be Fred, “Aren’t you?”

“Am I what?” Harry asked, suddenly feeling a little self conscious.

“Harry Potter,” said both twins in stereo.

“Well, yes, but it’s really not that big of a deal,” Harry said. This didn’t stop the twins from gawping. However, their mother soon called them away and then Harry caught Augusta’s attention and she and Neville joined him, having found Trevor hiding in a plant pot. Harry overheard a bit of the redhead family’s conversation - something about Perfect Prefect Percy and mailing someone a Hogwarts toilet seat.

Then the train was leaving and Harry and Neville leaned out the window to wave goodbye to their Gran. Harry saw the young girl from the family of redheads trying to run to keep up with the train until it was past the end of the platform. Once the train platform was disappearing into the distance, Harry closed the window and looked toward Neville.

“Well,” he said. “We’re on our way to Hogwarts.”

The compartment door slid open and the youngest of the redheaded boys peeked in.

“Do you have space for one more?” he asked. “Everywhere else is full.”

“Go ahead,” Harry said, and the boy sat down.

The boy, Harry noticed, looked at Harry and then quickly looked away. Neville looked out the window, still holding onto Trevor.

“Hey Ron.”

The twins had returned, their faces now poking into the compartment.

“Listen, Lee’s got a tarantula further up the train, we’re going to check it out.”

“Right,” Ron mumbled, and did he shudder a bit too, or was that Harry’s imagination?

“Harry,” the other twin said, “I believe we forgot to introduce ourselves. We’re Fred and George Weasley, and this is our brother Ron.”

“And this is my brother, Neville Longbottom,” Harry said.

“Pleased to meet you,” the first twin said. “Well, we’d better be going. Bye, Ron!”

“Bye,” Ron said.

The twins left.

“Are you really Harry Potter?” Ron blurted.

Harry nodded. “Yeah, but like I told your brothers, it’s not a big deal.”

“Do you really have the scar?” Ron asked.

Harry brushed his hair out of his forehead.

“Wow,” Ron said. “So that’s where-”

“Yes,” Harry said, “I really don’t remember it at all, though.”

“Nothing?” Ron asked.

“Just a lot of green light,” Harry said, sharply. “I was only a toddler, after all. Do you remember anything from when you were a year old?”

“Uh, no,” Ron said, and his ears tinged pink. He looked quickly out the window.

Neville shot Harry a reproachful look, then turned to Ron. “How many siblings have you got, Ron?” He asked.

“Oh,” Ron said. “There’s seven of us. I have five older brothers - you’ve met Fred and George, and Percy’s in his fifth year, and Bill and Charlie already graduated. Ginny’s the baby and the only girl.”

“Our family’s just Me and Harry and Gran,” Neville said.

“I wish I only had one sibling,” Ron said. “You never get anything new with five older brothers. I’ve got Bill’s old robes, and Charlie’s old wand, and Percy’s old rat.”

“At least you get some excitement,” Harry said. “No offense, Nev, but with just us and Gran, the house is awfully quiet, and the most exciting thing to happen in months was when you knocked over Gran’s favourite lamp.”

“None taken,” Neville said. “I break that lamp at least once a year.”

“Did you really grow up around Muggles?” Ron asked. “What are they like?”

“They’re just like anyone, I guess,” Harry said. “Some are kind of awful but most are pretty nice people.”

And with that, much of the tension in the compartment eased. They chatted for a bit before falling quiet and watching fields of cows zoom past.

At some point fairly early in the trip, there was a knock on the compartment door and a kind looking witch with a trolley of sweets was there, asking if they wanted anything off the trolley.

Harry felt his small pouch of money heavy in his pocket, despite not having a lot left over from buying his school supplies. He bought a bit of everything, including several chocolate frogs.

“Gran wouldn’t approve,” Neville said, looking at Harry’s snack haul.

“Gran doesn’t have to know,” Harry said. “Besides, it’s not like I’m planning to eat all this alone, you two are going to have to help me.”

Neville looked through the pile of sweets. “I’m not touching the every flavour beans,” he said. “I’m pretty sure when it says every flavour, it means every flavour.”

Ron took the package of Bertie Botts beans. “They do,” he said. “Fred swore he got an earwax flavoured one once.” He bit into an odd green coloured bean. “Ugh, see? This one’s sprouts.”

The three boys had some fun trying the candy - Harry, who’d only had a few chocolate frogs before, opened up a frog and saw that the card was for Dumbledore.

“Bad luck,” Ron said. “I’ve got about a dozen of him.”

“I actually haven’t got one yet,” Harry said, turning the card over to the back because Dumbledore had presently disappeared from his portrait.

Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts.  
Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern  
times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his  
defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945,  
for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s  
blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner,  
Nicholas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys   
chamber music and tenpin bowling.

Harry turned the card over and watched as the wizard sidled back into frame and winked at him. So this was the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Some time later, after most of the chocolate frogs had been opened and several flavours of every flavour beans had been tried (including a grey one that Ron wouldn’t touch, which turned out to be black pepper), and the fields outside had given way to dark forests of twisting trees, Neville made a noise of distress.

“Have either of you seen Trevor?” he said.

Harry looked around the compartment. He couldn’t see any sign of the toad. “I haven’t seen him since the witch with the snack trolley came by,” Harry said.

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Neville said. “What if he hopped out of the compartment while the door was open?”

“Well, we know he’s on the train,” Harry said.

Neville frowned. “I’m going to go ask people if they’ve seen him,” he said.

“I’ll check the compartment,” Harry said. “Maybe he’s hiding under the candy wrappers.” He picked up a few chocolate frog boxes, to reveal precisely zero amphibians.

Neville left the compartment, looking worried.

“I don’t know why he’s so bothered,” Ron said, as Harry continued piling up the candy wrappers into a neater pile, “if I’d brought a toad, I’d lose him as quick as I could.”

Harry frowned at Ron, whose ears went red under Harry’s scrutinizing gaze and who quickly continued, “Mind you, I’ve got Scabbers, so I shouldn’t talk.” He pulled out his rat; a fat, grey rat who was currently asleep. “He’s pretty useless, mostly all he does is sleep. I tried to turn him yellow the other day, but it didn’t work. Want to see?”

“Maybe once I’m done looking for my brother’s toad,” Harry said.

There was a knock on the compartment door, and a girl with skin darker than Harry’s and dark brown bushy hair entered, followed by a resigned looking Neville.

“Has anyone seen a toad? Neville’s lost one,” she said, her voice rather bossy sounding.

“This is the compartment he was lost from,” Harry said, but the girl wasn’t listening. She was looking at the wand in Ron’s hand.

“Are you doing magic?” She asked. “Let’s see it.”

She sat down. Ron looked taken aback. Harry saw Neville square his shoulders, as if impatient to get back to looking for Trevor.

“Er, alright,” Ron said, and cleared his throat.

“Sunshine, daisies, butter mallow - turn this stupid fat rat yellow.”

Scabbers stayed grey. Scabbers also stayed asleep.

“I don’t think that’s a real spell,” the girl said. “I’ve tried a few just for practice and they’ve all worked for me. Nobody in my family has any magic at all, it was a surprise to us when I got my letter. But I was pleased - I mean, I’ve heard Hogwarts is the best school for witchcraft there is. I’ve learned all about it, and all my setbooks off by heart. I just hope it will be enough. I’m Hermione Granger, by the way, and who are you?”

She said all this in one breath and Harry suddenly understood the resigned look on his brother’s face. Clearly, Neville hadn’t been able to get a word in edgewise before this Hermione had gone barging into compartments on his behalf.

“I’m Ron Weasley,” Ron muttered.

“Harry Potter,” Harry said.

“Are you really?” Hermione said. “I’ve read all about you. I got a few extra books for background reading - you’re in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_.”

“They’re all exaggerated accounts, I suspect,” Harry said.

“Haven’t you read them? Goodness, if it was me, I’d have read everything I could,” Hermione said, then in the same breath switched subjects entirely. “Do either of you know what house you’ll be in? I’ve been asking around and I hope I’ll make Gryffindor. It sounds by far the best. Did you know that Dumbledore himself was in Gryffindor? I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn’t be too bad either…”

“All the houses have their merits,” Neville said quietly.

“Neville!” Hermione said, sounding slightly surprised. “I’d forgotten we were looking for your toad! We’d better go… you two had better get changed, I’m sure we’ll be arriving soon.”

Then she turned and left. Neville gave Harry a helpless look before he left the compartment as well.

“Whatever house I’m in,” Ron said, “I hope she’s not in it.”

Harry didn’t have much more time to search the compartment for Trevor before the door to the compartment once again slid open. A blond boy with hair slicked back entered the compartment, flanked by two of the biggest eleven year olds Harry had seen. They reminded him a bit of the kids who used to pick on Neville in school.

“So it’s true, then,” the blond boy said. “Everyone’s been saying that Harry Potter is in this compartment.”

“I suppose it is,” Harry said, looking from one of the large boys to the other.

“Oh,” the boy said, “This is Crabbe, and Goyle. And I’m Malfoy. Draco Malfoy.”

In the corner of his vision, Harry saw Ron cover his mouth as a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh escaped.

“Do you think my name’s funny?” Draco Malfoy asked. “It’s clear from your hair and your hand-me-down clothes that you’re a _Weasley_.”

Ron’s ears went pink yet again.

Draco turned back to Harry. “I know you were raised by Muggles, so you don’t know better, but you’ll find there’s a right sort and a wrong sort of wizard to associate with. I’d be happy to help you out in that regard.”

Harry frowned. “I wasn’t aware that Augusta Longbottom was a Muggle,” he said. “And even if I had been raised by Muggles, I’d think I could figure out the right sort for myself. You, on the other hand, should probably get out of the compartment.”

Draco’s cheeks turned slightly pink. “Or what?” he asked. “Will you fight me?”

Harry shrugged. “I’ve fought bigger bullies,” he said. “Do you really want to stay and find out?”

Draco stepped aside so that Crabbe and Goyle could enter, but neither of the larger boys got very far before Crabbe was yelping and shaking his hand wildly. Scabbers had woken up and was hanging by his mouth from Crabbe’s ring finger.

“Nevermind,” Draco said, once Ron’s pet rat was dislodged from Crabbe’s hand. “We were just leaving anyways.” He swept out of the compartment, presently replaced by Neville and Hermione again. Neville was holding Trevor.

“What was that all about? Have you been fighting?” Hermione asked, looking at Harry’s clenched fists disapprovingly.

Harry forced himself to relax.

“Scabbers has been fighting, not us,” Ron said, picking his rat up by the tail. “I think he got knocked out. No, he’s just gone back to sleep.”

“Well anyway, we found Neville’s toad,” Hermione continued. “He was up front by the driver, who told me we’ll be arriving in just a few minutes. You three really ought to get changed. And you’ve got dirt on your nose, by the way. Did you know?”

She then left, oblivious to Ron’s glare as she did. And she was right; no sooner had they changed into their Hogwarts robes, than they could feel the train slowing down. It was getting dark outside the window.

A voice spoke throughout the train; likely amplified by magic. “We will be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes’ time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be delivered to the castle separately.”

“You should put Trevor in his tank now,” Harry said to Neville.

Neville shook his head. “He hates the tank.”

“You can’t carry him around with you everywhere,” Harry said. “You’ll have to leave him in eventually.”

“I suppose,” Neville said. He stood on the compartment seat and deposited the toad into his tank. “Sorry, Trevor.”

And then the train had stopped. The three boys put the last of the candy in their pockets and made their way into the crowded corridor and off the train.

“First years! This way!” A voice boomed in the dusk, coming from the direction of a massive form holding a lantern. Hagrid was corralling all the first years toward the lake.

“All right, Harry?” he asked as Harry got over to him, followed by Ron and Neville.

Harry nodded. “Hi Hagrid.”

“Any more first years?” Hagrid called out. “Alright, then, this way!”

They all followed Hagrid down a steep and narrow path. Everything was dark and there wasn’t much to see until suddenly the path opened out onto a lake. On the other side of the lake, on top of a large rocky outcrop, was a castle.

There was a collective gasp of awe.

“Into the boats, then.” Hagrid said, and Harry turned to see over a dozen little boats docked at the edge of the lake. He got into one with Ron and Neville, and they were joined by Hermione Granger, to Ron’s disappointment.

Once everyone was in the boats, with a call of “FORWARD” from Hagrid, the boats began to slide across the lake. Harry stared silently at the approaching castle and the stars overhead, and from how quiet everyone else was, he assumed they were doing the same. The boats took them through a wall of ivy into a hidden tunnel which seemed to lead underneath the castle, and to a small dock, where they all clambered out of the boats.

“You there,” Hagrid said, checking the boats as the children left. “Is this your toad?”

Neville rushed forward to take Trevor from Hagrid, who then walked over to a large wooden door and knocked three times.

“But you put him in the tank!” Harry said quietly. “I saw you do it!”

“I told you he doesn’t like it,” Neville replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long time! Sorry! I can't promise that I'll be back to a set posting schedule or anything yet, but I realised that chapter two was nearly finished so I figured I should finish it up and post it.
> 
> I haven't given up on this story yet!
> 
> I've taken some artistic liberties with character appearances, simply because I can.


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